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It’s Halloween time again! This month I’ll be purchasing some candy to hand out to all the princesses, super heroes, ghosts and goblins that visit my house on the 31st. I always mean to come up with a a fabulous no-candy treat to hand out, and one of these years I WILL… however I know I’ll be met with more than a few glares from kids hoping for their sugar fix.
So until then, I’ll still be purchasing candy for All Hallows’ Eve. But I won’t be purchasing the candy we used to get when we were kids. Remember your goodie bag (for me it was a pillowcase) full of M&Ms, Hershey Kisses, Snickers Bars, and Twix? My mom had nightmares every year as my sister and I hoarded our candy under our beds for the entire month of November. She was concerned about all the sugar, which certainly is an issue, but these days those same products are also made with GMOs, hydrogenated oils, artificial dyes, high fructose corn syrup, MSG and artificial flavors. Honestly, a bag of these packaged goods holds enough chemical weight to negatively impact the brain and immune function of any child. It’s crazy that these candy products are legal, let alone handed out freely one night a year.
Instead of handing out a bag of ADHD and cancer this year, how about joining me in a healthy candy swap? I’ve put together a list of 5 healthier candy options for Halloween. All are free of GMOs and by supporting them we can vote with our dollars BIG TIME this year. Will you join me? Instead of buying the usual fare of franken-candy, how about trying these brands instead?
5 Healthy Candy Swaps for Halloween
- Endangered Species Chocolate Squares
: Free of GMOs, corn syrup, gluten, wheat and fair trade chocolate to boot—these chocolates are a bit on the pricey side, but the ingredient list checks out. They do contain non-GMO soy lecithin so those with soy allergies beware. The chocolates come in individually wrapped chocolates (8 per bag) perfect for giving to trick or treaters.
- Annie’s Bunny Fruit Snacks
: I’m not a huge fan of Annie’s because many of the products contain MSG and vegetable oils. HOWEVER, if given the choice between a package of M&Ms and a package of Annie’s GMO-free Bunny Snacks, I’ll take the gummy snacks.
- Yu
mEarth Organic Lollipops: So I’ve scoured this website hunting for information about this product. The non-GMO label is not verified and they do not promote NO GMO on the label. However, in the FAQs the owners state the ingredients do not contain any GMOs or “added MSG or other nasties”—so if I read between the lines there might be small levels of MSG (no “added MSG”) but there should not be any GMO ingredients. Halloween is a once a year event and in that case I would feel OK buying these to give out to trick or treaters.
- NibM
or Daily Dose Chocolate Squares: These are free of GMOs, gluten and refined sugar. The price point is a little higher (if you buy the big size it works out to about 60 cents a square) but you can rest assured these chocolate squares are safe to hand out to little ones.
- Surf Sweets Halloween Treats
: These are great allergy-friendly treats to hand out on Halloween. Non-GMO verified and free of the 10 most common allergens, these are an allergy-safe treat to eat. The candy is made in molds made of corn so it can contain trace amounts of corn for those with a corn allergy. Surf Sweets came out with a Halloween pack too with 20 treat packs perfect for handing out.
So there’s my list of healthier candy swaps for Halloween. What would you add to this list? Tell me in the comments below!
